1. Field
Embodiments relate to a semiconductor memory device, a memory system, and a method of recovering erased data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Storage devices are used to store data, for example, text, voice and images. Semiconductor memory devices, e.g., volatile and non-volatile memory devices, may be used for such storage devices.
A flash memory device is a type of the non-volatile memory device. A demand for the flash memory device is increasing as the computer system is shifted into mobile domain. The flash memory device has advantages of low power consumption, high integration, smaller size and lighter weight. Recently, as portable information applications such as mobile phone, PDA, and digital camera are increasing, flash memory devices are used widely as storage devices instead of hard disks.
Flash memory does not support the same type of overwrite function that hard disks do. Accordingly, it may be necessary to conduct an erase operation in order to program data in the flash memory. Generally, a very long time is required to conduct the erase operation of the flash memory as compared to a program operation. Also, as the erase unit (block) of the flash memory is much larger than a program unit (page), a portion of data that is not to be erased may be in a same block as data to be erased.
The data stored in the hard disk or the semiconductor memory device may be erased by command of the user. In general, erasing of the data is performed in order to increase storage capacity of the hard disk or the semiconductor memory device. However, there occur cases where the erased data should be recovered. For example, the data may be accidentally erased by the user.
Typically, an erase operation is performed by the file system (e.g. FAT). The file system supplies an erase command to the hard disk and/or the semiconductor memory device. However, after the erase command is issued, the user may desire to recover the erased data.